Baofeng UV-3R: Popular Radio

I really think Baofeng found a sweet spot with the price point of the UV-3R. They may not have a huge profit margin in each radio, but they make up for it in volume. Given things like the group buy from the Indiana Gun Owners forum and interest on survivalist/prepper blogs, it isn't just hams who are buying it.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies Prevent Transmit Hint

Norm Goodkin (K6YXH) has a good idea to prevent an accidental transmission outside the allowed frequencies:

"If you have your UV-3R set to allow Tx on some out-of-band frequencies, but have others that you absolutely never want to Tx on, you can set the Tx frequency to null and you've got an Rx-only memory.

For example, if you put the NOAA Weather channels into memory, you certainly don't want to ever Tx on them. So, using the programming software just put your cursor on the Tx frequency and hit Delete. Note that you might see 0.00001 instead of a null Tx frequency, but the radio will not Tx on that channel. Don't type in a zero, because that might result in something like 136.000."

Baofeng UV-3R: APRS

A detailed report of an APRS project using our beloved UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies - Versions

Based on everything I have read, if you have the original UV-3R, you might be able to access the expanded frequencies. It seems there are differences in the firmware, so some support it and others don't. If you have a Mark II, your chances are much better. It is hard to say if there are firmware versions in the Mark II that don't support it or if people aren't updating the .ini file correctly.

Baofeng UV-3R: UV-3R + Plus

A new version... the UV-3R + Plus. I wonder if we should call it the "plus plus" or maybe the "plus squared." Andy points out that it has a Kenwood type plug. The buttons look a little different to me, too.

Baofeng UV-3R: Fix for Extremely Low Power

Many hams have measured the output of the UV-3R on low power and noted that is extremely low - as low as 100 mW. SP3SWJ reports a fix by "exchange some inductance in first stage transistor driver from 47nH to 220nH." You see his notations in the schematic here. He also reports the change improves the spurious transmissions on the harmonic.

Here are his measurements using Motorola R2670 on SMA antenna port:

HI POWER +33 dBm
2nd harmonics -27 dB
3rd harmonics -41 dB

LO POWER +16 dBm --- before fix
2nd harmonics -10 dB
3rd harmonics -44 dB

LO POWER +31.4 dBm --- after fix
2nd harmonics -27 dB
3rd harmonics -47 dB

He says the the change improves the output across all VHF frequencies.




Bert, DD5XL, verified that the mod works:

He "used a 150nH wire-wound 0603 SMT coil to replace the stock 47nH type. Before that my low-power output was around 60mW, it increased by nearly 10dB now up to 620mW with a fully charged battery (4,1V). High output is at 2,1W now, this increased of about 200mW compared with before mod.

I've also made a quick check with the spectrum analysator for the low-power setting, the first harmonic is now down to roughly -45dB, this is also an improvement although I already had a improved harmonic suppression by the PA0EJW filter mod."

Via the UV-3R Yahoo Group

Baofeng UV-3R: Radio Czech

Yes, I think I am funny with my little play on words.

Andy, OK1CDJ, has some good information about the UV-3R on his site. (If you cannot read Czech, Google Chrome will offer to translate or he has a Google Translate Widget on the sidebar.) He analyzes some antennas  - including a disappointing result from a telescoping NA-773.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies

In addition to the old trick of opening up the ability to store alpha tags in the Baofeng UV-3R, Frank Fort notes in the comments that he's opened up the frequencies available to his radio via the software:

"Baofeng Uv-3r Mark 11 is now with a 115Mhz to 530Mhz TX and RX modification, with the modded program...

• Close the UV-3R Mark 11 software if you have it running.
•  Browse to folder where the software is installed. (The default is C:\Program Files\UV3R.)
•  Double-click the "setting.ini" file.
• I tried copy and paste but didn't worked for me so i just changed manually for this.

[setup]com=2searchcom=1name=1
language=english 

[ModelInfo]
Freq0=[136-174/400-470]
data0=6013401700400047

Freq1=[115-400/400-529]
data1=5011993900409952

• Close the file and save the changes.
• Run the UV-3R Mark 11 software.

The (Name) option will work in the program only,not on the Baofeng but you can take notes.

So now you have now 3 frequencies choices in the menu up left in the program window. Now that's fun...I have a Baofeng Mark 11 with 19 menu options and work very well..."

Anyone else try it and have any luck? I know with the Wouxon that you can open it up and receive, but that the radio isn't designed to transmit outside the original frequencies.

Baofeng UV-3R: $60 for Mark II, Free Ship, and USB Cable

Chris, NH7QH, has sold out of the Mark I radios and is kicking off his new shipment of Mark II radios with a sale:

BaoFeng UV-3R Black Mark II W/Free USB and Free USPS Shipping for $60

In order to spread the deal around, he is limiting the deal to one per callsign. Also, it is for the first 30 units. This is a great deal from a US Dealer, so get moving if you've been sitting on the fence.

Baofeng UV-3R: Software Version 1.10 (UV-X4)

Mike, G0CVZ, alerted us to version 1.10 of the Baofeng UV-3R/UV-X4 software.

You can go to the Vero Telecom Download page and look for "Dual Band Pocket Radio UV-X4(Dual Watch) New Version" or you can use this direct link.

This version also uses the .3R file type.



The most notable update is the ability to update the FM Broadcast memories. Click "Program" the "FM Freq."

Yahoo Groups: Amateur and Ham Radio

I was poking around the Yahoo Groups and noticed that under the category of "Amateur and Ham Radio" there are about 7,200 groups. There are almost 200 with more than 1000 members.

The Yaesu FT-817 has the largest group with over 12,000 members.

The Wouxun KG-UVD1 group has 2,300 members and averages about 400 messages per month.

The Baofeng UV-3R group has around 1,900 members and averages close to 500 messages per month.

Baofeng UV-3R: Speaker Mic

I briefly mentioned it in the previous post, but NH7QH Radio Supplies, LLC has a speaker mic for sale that will work with the Baofeng UV-3R Mark II. The critical note is that it only works with the Mark II. If you read through the UV-3R Yahoo Group archives, you will see a) lots of people asking why you need a speaker mic for the UV-3R and eventually b) no one having an answer for one that works well with the original UV-3R.

NH7QH Radio Supplies, LLC

A quick plug for NH7QH Radio Supplies, LLC (Hawaii's Ham Radio Store)... I've mentioned them before as a supplier of the Baofeng UV-3R, but the reason for this post is their RSS feed. If you aren't familiar with RSS feeds, they allow you to subscribe to a web site and have updates delivered to you. I manage my subscriptions in Google Reader. When you follow a lot of web sites, it makes the task much easier. My recent Reader stats:

From your 140 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 4,710 items, clicked 194 items,starred 339 items, and emailed 0 items.

Back to my point, NH7QH's site has an RSS feed, so I know when he's added new products to this store. It is an easy way for me to keep tabs on what he's got going on.

For example, he recently added Speaker Mic for the Baofeng UV-3R Mark II, announced his Black Friday Sale (Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner for those that are interested!), offers a USB to Serial Adapter, and has a new Mini Dualband SMA Antenna.

I wish other sites would do the same.

Baofeng UV-3R: Second Harmonic Issue

December's QST has a Technical Correspondence (Boafeng UV-3R 2M/70cm Handheld Transceiver) article about the second harmonic issue in the Baofeng UV-3R. Bob Allison, WB1GCM (ARRL Lab Test Engineer), used an HP-8563E spectrum analyzer to determine if the radio meets the standards of FCC Part 97 for spurious transmissions. Bob finds that the radio (two units tested) failed to meet the standards and that "to legally transmit with these radios in the 2 m band, you would have to add a second harmonic low-pass filter at the antenna jack."

First, if you don't understand the basics of a spurious transmission on the harmonic, Steve (K9DCI) provides a good analogy on the of UV-3R Yahoo Group discussion on this topic:

"Spurious signals are more like driving with a 10 foot long beam sticking out the side of the car. As long as you drive on desert roads, you can relax because you "probably" won't whack any hitchhikers in the back of the head."

Some time ago, I had noted the spurious emission problem and posted a link to the mod to fix it on my UV-3R page. And I had thought the issue might have been fixed in newly manufactured radios, since the UV-3R had gotten FCC Type 90 Acceptance. For a major information dump on the topic, I would start with this UV-3R Yahoo Group post - also from Steve (K9DCI). Grant, ZL2BK, documents the magnitude of the problem at various frequencies. Basically, the filtering is better as frequency increases.

It is the issue that will not die on the UV-3R Yahoo Group:

• The original discussion
• The new discussion prompted by the QST article
• And the Mark II?
• And the Mark II again
• How big of an issue is this really?

As you can see in the above links, it does not appear that the issue was resolved in the Mark II. Some speculate that it is a quality control issue, but I am more inclined to think it is a limitation built into the design/components of the UV-3R. G4TUP suggests that Vero Telecom (and the various resellers) do not care as they designed the radio for the commercial market and, at the higher frequencies, it works within the standards. To keep the waters muddied, Bob (GM4CID) reports that Vero Telecom claims to have fixed the issue. And Andy (G0FTD) found that hisYaesu VX7R is worse than an unmodded UV-3R.

Here is the link to the low-pass filter mod that shows you how to add a 0805 size 33pF capacitor to reduce the emissions on the second harmonic.

Oh, and because I am apparently a sadist, here is a follow-up link where the same mod was performed and the results were less successful.

Wouxun.US is now ImportCommunications.com

I guess it is official now. I'd figured it out a while ago - not that it was a big secret as far as I could tell. But I have no idea why Ed didn't make some sort of announcement. He could have changed his e-mail signature with a little note or something without even having to do a post about it to the UV-3R or Wouxun Yahoo Groups.

In any case, if you go to ImportCommunications.com, it will forward you to Wouxun.us.

I think the new name makes sense. He can sell radios from more manufacturers now without being locked in to the Wouxun name.

I've mentioned before that I bought a radio from him and was very pleased with his service. Best wishes to Ed with Import Communications!

Baofeng UV-3R: Is Big Brother using my UV-3R to track me?

No.

Occupy Ham Radio

A funny thread popped up on the UV-3R group about the merits of buying the radio in the US versus direct from Asia: Occupy Ham Radio, Buy Cheapest, Save Money

Baofeng UV-3R: Receiving Interference

My Hungarian is a little rusty, but here is the description of the video:

"Two Baofeng UV3R radio is, in fact, Mark and I had. Unfortunately, if Gerje close to the car GPS units. However, only VHF UHF frequencies did not already have this feedback, not only on the floor near the GPS, but other customers (!) Is near. Unfortunately, essentially at the same time I use it on the radio and a GPS device so this is very disturbing phenomenon. Maybe if smb. megoláds know what the write me or kommentezzen. Thank you"

Apparently the GPS makes the UV-3R go nuts. He is able to change the squelch setting and it does its DSP thing and the interferance is filtered out.

Baofeng UV-3R: Cheap UV-3R Repeater

Bart (eo512) has created a UHF repeater using two UV-3R Mark II and a small UHF duplexer. He thinks he'll be in the hole for less than $200 (excluding antenna and feedline) for the project.

I'll have to check back later as he indicates he'll add more notes about the setup.

Baofeng UV-3R: Spare Parts

Thanks to shovelheadjake for pointing out that you can order lots of spare parts for your UV-3R from the 409Shop.